Image
Image Caption
By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker Contributor
PRINCE RUPERT, B.C.
For some brief moments it appeared the Skidegate Saints’ dynasty just might be coming to an end. But the Saints, from British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii, managed to win yet another championship at the All Native Basketball Tournament, which concluded Feb. 18 in Prince Rupert.
The Skidegate squad edged the Kitkatla Warriors 74-72 in a dramatic overtime championship final in the senior men’s division.
By pulling out the OT victory, the Saints managed to win their sixth consecutive title at the tournament, considered one of the most prestigious western Canadian events on the Native basketball calendar.
This marked the 58th year the tournament has been staged.
The Warriors were on the verge of ending the Saints’ streak at this tournament. And no doubt team members were upbeat as Kitkatla led by 13 points with less than seven minutes remaining in the game. But the Saints persevered and chipped away at the Warriors lead.
Skidegate managed to deadlock the match at 69-69 with under three seconds left, sending the game into a five-minute OT session.
Even facing a substantial deficit in the fourth quarter, Saints’ captain Desi Collinson said he was confident his side would prevail.
“My gut told me we were going to win and my heart told me we were going to win,” said Collinson, who was injured and unable to play in the tournament but assisted Dave Wahl with the club’s coaching duties.
After completing its comeback to send the match into OT, Collinson said it was obvious to him Skidegate would win.
“They looked defeated,” Collinson said of the Warriors as the final went into OT. “That’s the vibe I got. They were feeling defeated.”
Collinson is one of seven individuals that have been part of the Saints during all six of their tournament titles in Prince Rupert. Wahl, Skidegate’s head coach, has been at the helm for all of the triumphs.
Besides Collinson, other players who now have six tournament titles on their resumes are brothers Duane and Jason Alsop, Daniel McNeil, Josh Wesley and Darcy Pearson. Pearson netted what proved to be the game-winning shot.
Tyler York led the Skidegate club in the championship final with a team-high 27 points. York was also named as the most valuable player in the men’s division.
Like York, Kitkatla’s Jacob Thom had 27 points for his squad in the final. Besides being chosen as the division’s best defensive player, Thom was also chosen as the most inspirational player in the men’s category.
The Saints ended up playing six games in Prince Rupert, posting a 5-1 record. Their lone loss was against Kitkatla, the day before the final.
In other action at the All Native Basketball Tournament, the Hazelton Mystics captured the women’s division with a 56-46 victory over Kitimaat in the championship final. The Mystics were tournament finalists a year ago.
Hazelton guard Taylor Wale, who scored 10 points in the final, was named as the MVP of the women’s division.
Meanwhile, in the Masters (men’s) category, Hydaburg successfully defended the crown it won a year ago. And for the second straight year Hydaburg defeated Old Massett in the final, this time around by a score of 87-76.
Hydaburg’s Joe Young, who netted 11 points in the final, was chosen as the MVP of the division. And another squad that managed to defend its crown was the Port Simpson Strike Force. It won its second consecutive Intermediate men’s grouping, beating the Prince Rupert Synergy Storm 74-61 in the championship final.
Besides being selected as the best defensive player in the division, Port Simpson’s John Tait was also picked as the MVP.
In other news:
Besides their dominance at the All Native Basketball Tournament in recent years, the Saints have also made some international headlines. The Skidegate team travelled to New Zealand in 2015 to play some games versus the Maori national team.
The Maori squad indicated it was interested in repaying the favour and visiting B.C. last year for some additional matches. But that plan quickly expanded and included numerous other clubs. As a result, the Saints hosted the inaugural World Indigenous Basketball Challenge last August in Burnaby, B.C.
This event ended up being a 16-team tournament and also attracted entrants from as far away as Bermuda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tonga and Zambia. The Saints will once again host this tourney this August. The second annual event, which will be held at Simon Fraser University from Aug. 8 to Aug. 12, will again feature 16 men’s teams.
Organizers will also introduce a four-club women’s category for this year’s tournament.